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California State Parks
Marin Municipal Water District
Marin County Open Space District
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Background: The Tamalpais Conservation Club filed formal opposition to the California Department of Parks and Recreation's (DPR) plan to decommission and convert Coastal and Lone Tree Fire Roads into narrow four-foot wide multi-use trails. The TCC believes the plan is flawed in numerous aspects and a threat to the long-term environmental health of the facility. The TCC has requested the decommissioning of Lone Tree Fire Road and a more sensible plan for Coastal Fire Road requesting replacement of the few damaged sections with a safe multi-use trail of minimum 72" in width. Below in chronological order are a number of the pertinent documents and articles regarding this issue.
June 25, 2005
Coastal View Trail is officially dedicated and open to all users. State Parks has made the decision to remove the deeply eroded Lone Tree Fire Road. It will be decommissioned in July 2005.
November 2004
Coastal View Trail construction is completed. The trail is closed to allow it to settle for several months before being opened to the public.
August 2004
Settlement Document
The TCC announces the settlement of its lawsuit aimed at protecting Mt. Tamalpais’ trails. The result will be the creation of a nearly 3 mile long multi-use trail on Mt. Tam. The new trail to be named the Coastal View Trail will replace the obsolete and deeply eroded Coastal Fire Road located near Pantoll Ranger Station. Trail work scheduled to begin mid-August 2004. This includes the complete removal of the old fire road.
The Club brought its lawsuit in 2003, engaging the services of Mill Valley attorney Dotty LeMieux to prevent what it determined was a plan that would result in damage to the long term health of the mountain. During its pursuit of this action, a coalition of local groups was formed including the Marin Conservation League, the Marin Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Marin Horse Council and the Bay Area Trails Preservation Council, each of whom donated funds in support of the legal effort.
Among its concerns, the Club opposed the conversion of parts of the historic Dipsea Trail to multi-use. This proposal in its original form, in effect, would have allowed mountain biking for the first time on parts of a traditional hiking and running trail in the Park and would have opened the door to abuse. The Club also opposed a proposal in the original plan to create narrow single track multi-use trails to replace both the Coastal and Lone Tree Fire Roads which it felt would become by default bikes-only trails.
The details of the settlement include DPR’s renewed pledge to involve local groups such as TCC in future decisions through the creation of the Mount Tamalpais State Park Citizen’s Advisory Committee (MTSP CAC). The CAC will consist of members of the environmental community to work with the State and local staff on upcoming projects on Mt. Tam. Among its work, this will ensure the Dipsea’s preservation as a foot path. In addition, the Club will have a role in creating signage at the entrances to the new trail. DPR has also agreed to partial restitution of the TCC’s legal costs.
-- May 12, 2003 -- The Tamalpais Conservation Club has filed a Writ of Mandamus against the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation with Marin County Superior Court. Click here to read the Petition.
April 10, 2003 -- The final Mitigated Negative Declaration is released. DPR has modified their plan and agreed to increase the planned width of the proposed Lone Tree and Coast trails to 60". Additionally, where steep side slope exists, making it potentially unsafe for passage between users, the trail width will be constructed to 72". The Tamalpais Conservation Club and its sister organizations have been heard! While this is an improvement over the original plan to build narrow multi-use trails on Mt. Tam, there are still several aspects of concern including the change of designation to multi-use, and rerouting of parts of the historic Dipsea Trail.
If you would like more information, contact:
Shaelyn Raab Strattan, Statewide Environmental Coordinator
California Department of Parks and Recreation
Acquisition and Development
One Capitol Mall - Suite 500
Sacramento, CA 95814
Locally you may contact: Joseph P Mette III, District Superintendent, Dept.
of Parks and Recreation, P.O. Box 123, 25381 Steelhead Blvd., Duncan Mills,
CA 95430, tel: 707 865-3125, email: jmett @ parks.ca.gov. Copies of the final
MND may be obtained from DPR.
Note: All documents below are part of the public record with
exception of the timeline which is provided as a convenience.
Mail your comments and questions to: csecretary @ tamalpais.org. Thank you.
TCC Timeline/Contact
Information: Mitigated Negative Declaration - Coastal and Lone Tree Fire Roads
This document provides a timeline of events from September 2002 through January
1, 2003. It also includes contact information for those of you that would like
to write a letter. Click here for non-pdf, htm version
of this file
January
29, 2003 Pacific Sun Story "Uneasy riders"
Story on proposal. Reprinted with the permission of the Pacific
Sun.
January
2003 Tamalpais Guardian
Background article appearing on pages 3-4 of our Guardian.
*Key documents are highlighted in bold with an asterisk
Quad
Map
This map shows the proposed rerouting. Please note the four-color legend
to the right.
October 12, 2002
DPR Document
Original Dept. of Parks & Recreation Grant Application*
Click here for non-pdf, htm version
of this file
November
4, 2002 TCC Document
The TCC Position Statement in response to the DPR Grant Application*
Click here for non-pdf, htm version of
this file
December
2, 2002 DPR Document
DPR 30 day announcement of Mitigated Negative Declaration filing
Click here for non-pdf, htm version of this file
December
18, 2002 LeMeiux Extension Request
Attorney Dotty LeMeiux's request for an extension to respond until January 31,
2003.
December
20, 2002 DPR Extension Denial
In response to attorney Dotty LeMeiux's request. Received by Club on December
23. It required the TCC to file its opposition within 24 hours.
December
23, 2002 LeMeiux Second Extension Request
TCC attorney, Dotty LeMeiux, response to DPR regarding the premature Christmas
Eve cutoff date for filing an official response to
the Mitigated Negative Declaration.
Click here for non-pdf, htm version of this file
December 23, 2002 TCC Extension
Request
TCC response to DPR regarding the premature Christmas Eve cutoff date for filing
an official response to the Mitigated
Negative Declaration.
Click here for non-pdf, htm version of this file
December 24, 2002
DPR Grant of Extension
DPR begrudgingly provides the TCC a one-week extension.
December 24,
2002 TCC Opposition to the Mitigated Negative Declaration
The first part of TCC's official response to the Mitigated Negative Declaration.*
Click here for non-pdf, htm version of this
file
(Note: The first ten pages are primary. The 33 pages following
these are reference materials.)
December 31,
2002 LeMeiux Document
TCC attorney official response to the Mitigated Negative Declaration.*
Click here for non-pdf, htm version of this
file
January 1, 2003
TCC Opposition to the Mitigated Negative Declaration, part II
Part II of TCC's official response to the Mitigated Negative
Declaration.*
Click here for non-pdf, htm version
of this file
(Note: Does not include additional reference materials sent to DPR.)
May 12, 2003
Writ of Mandamus
The TCC lawsuit filed with the California Secretary of State.
April 2004
Discussions with the the State of California are ongoing.
Watch this space for the latest news.
MMWD
Current Meeting Agenda
The Board of Directors meets every other Wednesday evening at 7:30 PM
(MMWD website)
Watershed
Use and Management Plan (pdf file
formatted for printing)
Online html version
Developed in conjunction with staff by the Watershed Citizen's Advisory
Committee over a two-year period. It provides guidelines for management of the
watershed over the next 50 years.
Marin
Municipal Water District Roads and Trails Plan Introduction
MMWD is working on the Mt. Tamalpais Road and Trail Management Plan (RTMP).
The purpose of the RTMP is to reduce the impact of roads and trails on water
quality and ecosystems.
MMWD Roads
and Trails Plan Presentation (pdf)
As presented in a public workshop, October 30, 2002. Great Interactive
map! (MMWD website)
Redwood Creek
Watershed Vision Statement (pdf)
MMWD Board Resolution 7323, February 19, 2003. This Vision Process is
the product of a year's worth of effort by multiple land management agencies.
MMWD Facts
and Information
Upcoming meetings, standing committees, schedules, organizational structure,
policies, archived meetings and agendas and more (MMWD website)
THE DISTRICT IS CELEBRATING 30 YEARS of extraordinarily successful efforts to preserve the undeveloped hills, woodlands, meadows and wetlands that make Marin such a desirable place to live and work. As part of this milestone anniversary, they are renewing this partnership with the community by inviting participation in our Policy Review Initiative.
Latest
Information on the Policy Review Initiative
Updated by the MCOSD regularly
MARIN
COUNTY OPEN SPACE DISTRICT Policy Review Initiative
"White Papers" each of which
is a summary of one of the 11 policy areas under review by the District.
Open
Space Survey Report
Results of the public survey released winter/spring 2004
Marin
County Open Space and Trails Committee Meeting Agenda
The Trails and Open Space Committee meets at 10:00
am the third Wednesday of every month at the Marin Center. (MCOSD website)
· Marin Headlands Visitor Center (415) 331-1540
· Fort Mason Visitor Center (San Francisco) (415) 561-4700
· Muir Woods Visitor Center (415) 331-1563
· For Emergencies Call: US Park Police Dispatch (415) 561-5505
www.nps.gov/goga -- Golden Gate National Recreation
Area Web Page
www.nps.gov/muwo -- Muir Woods National Monument
Web Page
www.nps.gov/fopo -- Fort Point National Monument
Web Page
Schedule and description of upcoming meetings and workshops
(Please note: The
majority of files are in pdf format. If you are unable to access or do not have
Adobe Acrobat Reader, it is provided free of charge by Adobe, easy to install
and use with minimal instruction. Just click on the image to download from the
Adobe website.)
